#i need a name for this au augh

[timegays]

Stupid rat smh

[crackwashing]

Is anyone else obsessed with anti-tulpar au? Haha just kidding,,....unless?

[daegeseage-art]

I love drawing in a super duper sketchy style like this but god does it make colouring hard T^T

[smile-files]

bearer of the curse (too many good ideas)

[lemonyinks]

12 and 46 for the ask game?

12) favorite book

You don't understand how hard this question is for me lmfao. I think I've read too many that I like to choose a definitive favorite. The Outsiders is a strong contender though.

46) Are you excited for anything?

To finish the rough draft of an original story I've been working on. Once I finish planning it all out I can finally get down to the nitty gritty of fleshing it out. It's going to be so fun and I have so much love for this story of mine.

x

[sundial-bee-scribbles]

Was Four a typo or is there another one that gets added to Them eventually? (I wouldn't be surprised if Len put Rin in tbh but if not her it would probably be Moke) or did Len shut himself away/stop attending classes too? Also unrelated question, but where they all taken at the same time/over a short timeframe or did it take longer? -🌟

:)

i can't say too much yet but i will say that nobody gets added to len's creation, it's stuck in its' current state pretty much: nothing can be added to it and nothing can easily be removed [without causing it excruciating pain]

len didn't shut himself away tho lol; even if he wanted to can't sacrifice those good grades lmfaoooo gotta get into his dream uni/colleg someday

and i do assume that oliver, piko, and fukase were led to len's basement at around the same time (in the spring?), though i'm still not sure if it was all 3 at once or len brought them each one by one. they weren't officially reported as missing until much later tho

[fr04k1e]

GIGIS WORLD AU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AUGH

AAAAAAUUUUUUGGGGGGGHHHHHHH its not even fully done yet i still have like 4 other characters to make but honestly i might scrap or put this project on hiatus i have no motivation to work on it anymore sobs

i will give you guys the ideas i had for the characters i didnt end up making though, and the idea i had for the toon handlers.

Flutter - Gardener, works in the garden and grows/collects seasonings for the kitchen and decoration for the casino customers/staff

R&D - Casino Hosts, working directly with customers to make sure they want to return to the casino and ensuring they have a good experience.

Looey - A comedian/magician on the stage in the disco, a solo preformer. Magician by day and comedian during after hours

Pebble - A security dog working within every part of the casino, with his loud bark he can alert other security of unwanted guests, and using his sharp teeth he can hold them down long enough to deal with them.

Cosmo - A chef in the kitchen, working along with shrimpo. He specializes in pastries, but can also cook other, more healthy foods if needed.

ok thats about it for the toons i didnt end up getting to design. ill ramble more about the actual lore here if anyone cares about that LOL. keep in mind i got like almost nowhere with this so its very VERY vauge and unfinished also im not a good writer whoops

' the basic idea is that the casino had been running fine up untill they had faced a lawsuit, causing them to shut down everything and abandon the casino. Since the toons had been made specifically for the casino they had just been left in there to handle themselves. Eventually, one of the toons had grown curious and decided to tear down one of the machines. After ripping open the back of the machine, black ooze leaked out and covered the bottom of their feet. Not thinking much of it and assuming it was just oil of some kind, they continued, getting the liquid all over their hands and face, along with their legs. After tearing open the machine, they had found little to nothing of interest and left to get themselves cleaned up. However, when they tried to wipe the goo off, it wouldnt budge and instead had covered more of their body. After a short while, they began to feel hollow on the inside and an ache in their bones, what happened afterwards had become contagious and slowly began to infect the whole casino. '

TOON HANDLERS!! they have a whole new purpose here. They work mostly as managers for the toons, each handler has their own line of work and toons to keep track of and train, only 4 have designs tho lol. IGNORE the reindeer names i couldnt think of anything else ok

ok so IN ORDER

Harvey - the bartender, he works with Rodger, Dandy and Sprout. often exhausted, but not rude by any means. mostly quiet and closed off

Prancer - the director, works with Glisten, Poppy, Boxten, Shelly and Looey. a jumpy cheery fella, mostly looking to have fun and trying to be as positive as she can be. bigender monarch

Doner - the (old) director/beauty worker, used to work with Glisten, Poppy, Boxten, Shelly and Teagan, but had been fired after a long time working there due to extreme mistreatment of his toons. although he was closed off, he never seemed to be too angry or aggressive towards other handlers, but when a toon would mess up or act out he would become ruthless without the other handlers knowledge.

Rudolf - the chef, works with Shrimpo, Cosmo and Flutter. a happy and cocky chef who tries his best to make his job entertaining and teaches his toons in more extreme fun ways.

there SHOULDVE been way more but as i said before i dont have motivation to work on this anymore lmao. also glisten canonically has BPD in this my #bpdwarrior

TAG ME IN FANART OR IF YOU DECIDE TO EXTEND THIS AU A LITTLE BIT!! ID LOVE TO SEE IT my twitter is @d1spatches and my tiktok is @0tt3rpaw

[yuriisclumsy]

What if there was an AU for [Name] being one of the top ranked mages in twisted wonderland?

╰Description: [Name] is one of the top mage in Twisted Wonderland, right after Malleus Draconia.

Part 1 | Part 6 | Part 7 (You are here) | Part 8

—November 20, 2024—

In the previous episode, some of the students of NRC–who have Professor Fairytale as an instructor, and like her as an educator–went to her house to try convincing her to rethink teaching. Yet, when they arrived at the address and confronted their professor, their plan was met with confusion. Their professor did not quit. Rather, she called in sick and asked for a few days off to recover from the bad cold she had.

What a twist.

Ah? Ah? …No? Okay.

The students that remind on campus to follow their part of the plan, are now doing so with the illusion that their professor is still gone. This is going to be a catastrophic mess, one which they’ll be cleaning up after the whole ordeal.

What was their part of the plan anyway…?

…

The courtyard of the college was beautiful and often frequented by the students who have a bit of time left before their next class. Today was no different. Some were practicing small spells, so as to not destroy the place. They did not want to end up like the freshmen who almost got expelled for burning a statue.

In a secluded corner of the yard stood a group of familiar students who seemed to be discussing a rather secretive plan.

“Is everyone in their positions?” Jamil asked the twins as he watched the surrounding area for eavesdroppers. Finding none, he turned to them. “So?”

“Worry not, all the preparations are ready for noon,” said jade with his usual business smile.

Floyd groaned from boredom, “Augh, can we go now?”

“Not yet,” Jade answered, “we are still waiting on Scarabia’s Housewarden.”

“Talking about my Housewarden, he should have been here already…”

“Jamil!” an energetic boy running towards them said. 

“Oh, look! The little puppy!” Floyd pointed at the boy running.

“I got the ingredients!” he yelled.

“…!” Jamil quickly grabbed Kalim by the arms and dragged him to their “hiding spot” before shoving a hand on his mouth. “Kalim…! You can’t just go around yelling that, or they're going to figure we’re up to something…!” he warned.

Kalim took the hand on his mouth and flashed an apologetic smile, “Sorry, sorry! I got excited when I saw you guys…” He scratched his head and vowed lightly.

“It’s fine,” Jade assured him, “I don’t think anyone is going to question Kalim yelling anytime soon. I think they’ll be more suspicious if you don't yell.”

Jamil frowned, knowing that it was true. “Anyway, you have all of the items I asked you for?” he asked Kamil.

“Yup!” he opened the bag in his hand, “I have all of them… What are we going to do with these again?”

Jamil took the bag and made sure everything was there, “Don’t worry about it. The only thing you have to do now…is keep quiet until the next part of the plan begins.”

“Ah, okay…”

“...”

“...”

“You don’t remember when the plan starts, do you?”

“Nope!” Kalim answered with a bright smile. Jamil sighted and massaged his temples.

Jade chuckled. He placed a hand on Kalim’s shoulder and said, “We need to wait for Idia’s signal.”

“Oh!” he let out an understanding. “...what is the signal?”

Jade’s eyebrows knitted in concern at Kalim’s forgetfulness. “I feel bad for you,” he said to the Vicewarden of Scarabia.

“I’m used to it…” Jamil extended his arm to pass the bag to Jade, “At least he helped in something…even if he had to beg to do it.”

Floyd snatched the bag from his grasp before his twin could get it, “What tasty things are there…” He licked his lips as his hands touched what felt like cotton candy.

Jade snatched it back from him. “These are not for you. So, please, keep your hands away.” 

“Awww…”

Jade’s attention turned back to Jamil, “Thank you. We’ll tell Azul we have these and start our part of the plan.”

He nodded as he watched them leave the hiding spot. He turned to where Kalim is with his eyes closed, “Now that that’s done, we can leave now, Kalim–” there was an empty space beside him. “Kalim? Kalim!?” he yelled out his friend's name. “Damn it…!”

It seems Jamil will be busy trying to find his housewarden.

Why don’t we take a quick look at what the others are up to, shall we?

…

Their plan was to show off Professor Fairytale's teaching skills where irreplaceable, and that those students who decided to hide behind their parent’s are nothing but cowards who wanted an easy class and not work hard.

It was a masterpiece of a plan. And no one would say otherwise.

“That’s an idiotic plan.”

…Unless that someone is much smarter than they are.

“Idiotic?” Riddle questioned, taken aback by their professor's bluntness.

“See! Even the prof thinks all of this was a waste of time!” Grim yelled in frustration between munches of the pastries placed in front of him. “But, NO. Don’t listen to Grim!”

He–Riddle–and the others put their differences aside and thought of a plan to get her un-fired! …Even if it were an illusion. “I’m sorry but I fail to see where this is stupid.”

“I didn’t say it was a waste of time,” she corrected Grim and slapped his creeping feline paws out of her plate. Fixing his etiquette like the badly trained cat he is. “I’m merely stating a fact.”

“This whole adventure was…unnecessary. You all could have mailed me, or emailed me, added Crowley in there, and this misunderstanding wouldn't have escalated.”

They remained silent, not bothering to touch their teas or sweets, the only one who could stomach through the lecture was Grim whose loud chewing you all could hear.

Professor Fairytale shook her head in disappointment. “Now that this has been cleared, serve yourselves more food, and leave before another rumor spreads.”

“We understand…” Riddle said for everyone. Except Grim, he was still munching away his Housewarden’s food.

Their expressions resembled that of sad puppies. Something which she could not resist.

“*sigh…* Please don’t look at me with those eyes…” she frowned.

“What do you mean?” Ace said innocently, intensifying his puppy-eyes.

“...Those eyes,” her gaze shifted awkwardly away. “I don’t like them…”

“Wait, could it be…?” Carter’s question dragged on making their professor feel nervous. “...Professor [Name] is…weak towards puppy eyes!?”

“No, I’m not!” she slammed her tea cup on the table. Her face wore a blush, and her eyes widened at the mannerism she displayed. “I–I mean…no… I don’t have any weaknesses,” she closed her eyelids and sipped her tea.

They stared at her for a bit and thought: “She’s now acting her age.”

“Anyhow, I think it’s time to go back and tell the others to stop whatever they’re doing, before any more trouble arises,” she instructed them.

Riddle got up, “I agree with professor [Name]. We need to go back and tell the others.”

“Aren’t you forgetting we have phones? They’re there for a reason, y’know?” Ace laid himself back, it seemed he was in no mood to move right now.

“I already tried,” said Carter. “The internet here is so bad, I can’t even post the picture I took earlier on the entrance!” He sulked his inability to have his brain stimulated by the mindless algorithm that is his social media platforms.

A drop of sweat appeared on [Name]’s face. “I think that’s a good thing…”

“Oh please, it can’t be that bad.”

“No, he’s right,” Deuce interjected with his phone on display for Ace to see. The internet icon had a line across it, showing that there was no connection.

“My order still stands.” Riddle vowed slightly in the direction of [Name], “It was an honor to be invited in your house, Professor Fairytale.”

“Oh no, the honor is all mine to have hosted you all.”

“iT wAs aN hOnoR..blah blah blah… Can we go now—? OW!” Ace yelped as Ramshackle’s Prefect hit him on the head.

“That’s enough for today, Ace,” he said as he made Ace get up to his feet.

“Hey–!”

They made their way to the house’s entrance. [Name] opened the door to let them out.

Riddle, Ace, Deuce, Grim and the Prefect were already far from the porch, the only ones remaining were Trey and Carter.

“Thank you for your hospitality Professor [Name],” Trey said to her, “I hope you have a speedy recovery.”

Carter placed an arm around his friend. “Yeah! I can’t wait to see you back on campus!”

“Thank you…the both of you. I will be back to work in three days as the cold has calmed down. And, expect to have a test once I return,” she said, giving them a ghostly smile.

They flinched at the mention of a check for their progress in her class.

“Hehe…We’ll be looking forward to it,” said Trey before turning to follow his classmates.

“‘Looking forward to it?’ If I fail, it’ll tank my GPA!” yelled Carter, starting to get worried about his grades.

“You’ll do great.”

“That’s because I study!”

[Name] saw as they disappeared from view. She smiled softly at the small shared memory she had with them. It had been the first in her life where she had people visit her, worried for her well-being.

It feels…nice…

𝚃𝚊𝚐𝚜: @scarabiafriend, @sleep-ydragon, @d3sperate-enuf, @elaemae, @lucky-whispers, @kiwiimochi, @emmorphine, @azriel-sama, @amora-ledezma, @writerstrashbin, @marinahavik, @twstwondersforyou, @lunatheroyal, @ririsun, @dyedscarletletter, @kuureii, @otomega, @valacz29, @busy-dadzawa-fish, @sarah22447, @valacz29, @wondering-again, @lucid-stories, @obsessionswithfandoms. Comment if you want to get added to the Tag section for Twisted Wonderland. Back to The Mind

Back to Master-List

[midnight1nk]

EPISODE(???) CONCEPT #2

What if… the Tender Tunnel was a mini-game challenge in WOTFI 2024?

For context: this was written before WOTFI ‘24, when I thought Mario and SMG4 would have to save their friends one by one by winning mini-games. It’s not an episode rewrite or concept, more of an AU of sorts. Listen, I just wanted an SMG34 moment, okay.

Oh, man. What have they gotten themselves into this time…

Mr Puzzles has trapped the Crew in Puzzle Park, claiming they are “the missing pieces”. The Crew, except for Mario and SMG4, are under his control. And now, this lunatic wants them to “test” these mini-games before the official opening in 24 hours.

Mario and Four could hear the crowd waiting outside, the children curious about the bright and flashing attractions. They feared he might do the same thing as he did in Puzzlevision, trapping them all in this park. The duo demanded Puzzles to set them free. Unfortunately, according to Puzzles, the only way to free them was to beat the mini-games. “Hmph, I doubt you can.”

Well, he shouldn’t have underestimated them. The blue and red duo already managed to save Karen and Bob, and were now off to rescue SMG3.

NEXT CHALLENGE: THE EVER-TURNING DILEMMA OF MR. DYNAMITE

(I can’t come up with good names)

Woah oh, Mr Dynamite is going off the rails again! Hit the red X’s on the rotating target he's tied to using these blades without hitting him. Be careful! If the timer runs out, his dynamite vest will make him go “pop”! [ *insert evil laughter here*]

Thanks to Bob and Karen being experts of the blade, they completed the mini-game, and Three’s free of Puzzles’ control. Four removes the rope that held Three’s limbs and carries him down.

Three, dizzy: “Oh, what happened?” [*sees that it’s Four, annoyed*] “Oi, didn’t I text you guys to get out of here?” Four: “Mr Puzzles is controlling the entire carnival, we didn't exactly have a choice to begin with. Besides, we aren’t gonna leave you here.” Three, touched: “You stayed… to save me?” Four: “Why wouldn’t I? Dude, you were literally going to explode if we didn’t.” Three: “I…uh…” [*blushes*] “Augh, never mind. Why did I even send that text?” Four: “Aww, didn’t know you cared about us.” Three, muttering: “Shut up, baka.”

(and yes, Three thinks Four could’ve easily gotten rid of him if he wanted to. That their friendship is too good to be true. But the fact that Four is here, returning the favor... perhaps Three’s efforts weren’t for nothing.)

A door nearby opens up, leading them to the next challenge. They ran, passing by some mirrors. Three caught a glimpse of himself, in the getup Mr Puzzles had him in. He struck a pose. “Heh, still got it.”

NEXT CHALLENGE: LOVE IS BLIND

(still can’t come up with good names)

Grab a partner and test your bond in the Tender Tunnel! Each player will be assigned a lipstick of the color that matches their partner, show how much your partner means to you by giving them a kiss!

Of course, Mr Puzzles chooses his pair, Tari and Saiko, for his side. For the Crew, it was a bit more difficult to choose. Bob opted out because “none of them were sexy”. Karen was more worried for her children, whom she could hear from the outside. Mario decides to go with his one true love, spaghetti. Four went against it, thinking that Mr Puzzles wouldn’t even allow it. And this was a big one, they could save both Tari AND Saiko. They can’t risk it. Mario ignores him and gets on the boat anyway.

Mario, also being the wingman that he is, suggests that Four and Three pair up. Before they could even process what he said, Mario extended his arm and pulled them into a third boat. Mr Puzzles, or at least controlling a robot arm, hands out the lipsticks and reassures them not to worry, the lights will be dim in the Tunnel. There’s no need to feel embarrassed. Besides, with Mr Puzzles knowing how the blue and purple duo are, they won’t be able to win. Four and Three looked at each other, feeling the awkward tension between them.

They’ve been through this before. The elevator… the…

We don’t talk about what happened years ago.

But, to save their friends…

After a while, the boats come out of the Tunnel. The camera first shows Tari and Saiko with their kiss marks on the back of their hands. It counts for two points for Mr Puzzles’ side.

Four, off-screen: “Wait, we could’ve done that this whole time?!”

The camera pans to Mario and his plate of spaghetti, somehow in wedding attire. Where did that wedding cake come from? The wedding bells ring…

Mario, putting the lipstick on: "You may now kiss your partner."

....uh, before Mario proceeds to do his usual antics.

Mr Puzzles: “CUT THE CAMERA CUT THE CAMERA!”

The camera hastily moves away, going into static. Without Mario being the picture and disqualified, the last pairing is Four and Three!

…

Well, the camera is pointing at where they’re supposed to be standing, but they’re nowhere to be seen. The camera moves, trying to search them.

Four, off-screen: “Just skip us! You win this time, Mr Puzzles.” [*nervous laughter*] Three, also off-screen: “Uh, yeah, let’s just go to the next one…”

The camera turns to the pair walking away from the scene, suspiciously covering their faces with their hats. Failing miserably not to be seen by anybody. That was until one of them trips for not seeing where they were going. The camera zooms in to show what exactly they were hiding:

There were dozens of kiss marks smeared on each other’s faces, purple for Four and blue for Three. The two yelp in embarrassment, trying to hide with their hands and tempting to clean them off.

Well… to Puzzles’ dismay, the Crew clearly won this mini-game as well as saved Tari and Saiko. Mario gave the pair a supportive thumbs-up while the duo wished they could die here and now.

Goddammit, it happened... again!

[wintfleur]

Loooove your writing! ❤️ but what about Stella and our favourite captain aka Nico? Need all the details!!!!

˖ ་ 💭 roro’s notes ( tysm lovie!! I absolutely loved writing this, I love Nico so much!! )

au masterlist — you can find asks under #💌stellahughes!

°. — ( feel free to send any requests of things you would like to see in this series, or if you just want to share some thoughts! I would absolutely love that! Please comment if you would like to be added to the tag list! )

So when Stella found out that Jack would be going to the devils, she of course had to do her research. And let’s just say she went down the rabbit hole for Nico hischier, like she literally started giggling when she saw his picture when she searched the team up.

Love at first sight for real! CAN YOU BLAME HER???

When Stella did finally get to meet Nico, she was a blushing and stuttering mess as he introduced himself to her with a smile. Quinn who quickly noticed why she was acting like that tried to help her out by saying ‘sorry she gets a little shy’

Nico was sweet about it and said it’s no problem and that it’s nice to meet her (aUgh he’s so perfect) Jack was giving Stella a confused look, he knows she’s shy but she’s never been this…awestruck? He immediately doesn’t like it.

Obviously stella and nico got closer over the years, Jack and stella are very close(obvi!) and she always tried to come visit jack, meaning that she would also see nico! Nico would also come and visit sometimes, they were all close!

Also over the years, Stella’s crush on Nico was very well known…by like literally everyone! She’s not very good at keeping it a secret. She and everyone knows that nothing would happen from it. Nico finds it very sweet and adorable.

They are very close! It’s honestly feels like they have known each other for years! They are each other’s biggest fan, Nico loves and keeps all her art work she’s given him safe, and he loves watching all her figure skating videos, always texting her what he thinks of it!

Now that Luke and Jack play on the same team, Stella finds it hard picking what brother’s jersey she’s going to wear, so most of the time she wears Nicos!

Stella and nicos interactions go viral a lot, especially on tiktok, fans go crazy for there interactions!

Nico always gets shy and laughes when ever Stella says I love you before she hangs up on there calls, he always says it back. He honestly thinks of her as a little sister.

Nico loves teaching her Swiss German

And Stella loves hugging Nico, he honestly gives the best hugs!! 😫

They both find it hilarious how jealous Jack gets, Jack likes to make it clear that he’s still Stella’s favorite and that’s she’s HIS little sister

Nico is one of the few people she actually likes calling her Estella

They are just very sweet in general, they have a great friendship!

He once took Stella to a cat cafe and she cried, she reminds him of a cat tbh.

Stella is always liking and commenting on edits of him!

Stella’s contact name for Nico is ‘nico❣️’

Nicos contact name for Stella is ‘Estella 🐈‍⬛’

NICO IS THE SWEETEST PERSON EVER AND STELLA JUST LOVES HIM SO MUCH! 😵‍💫

˖ ་ 💭 roro’s notes ( I was supposed to post this after the game earlier, but I totally forgot )

°. — taglist ( @privatemythss @bradenschneider @cixrosie )

[rosedere]

Our Spring Secret

Jade Leech x Reader x Azul Ashengrotto (Modern/Office AU)

Summary: You find yourself as the new acting CEO’s Friend with benefits — but little does he know about your secret involving Azul.

MDNI 18+

General series cw: Yandere content, NSFW, non con, Kidnapping, drugging, pregnancy (reader), love triangles, Suicid3 attempt.

Sequel to Murder Mountain. (Can read separately though)

Previous Chapter: All that I know

Current Chapter: 7 Weeks and 3 Days (you are here)

Next Chapter: will you marry us?

She bruises coughs she splutters pistol shots But hold her down with soggy clothes and breezeblocks 

Muscle to muscle and toe to toe The fear has gripped me but here I go

-

“Jade why do you keep leaving? This is the fourth trip this month”

The suitcase you were laying on top of while Jade folded his shirts onto the mattress next to you humming to himself was where you found purchase for the day, watching Jade for most of the morning as he instantly began to organize his things and clean around his bed way before you and your Bloom had even woken up.

“I’m not leaving you alone because I want to; Remember CEO’s have to travel frequently, especially with this new position Azul opened five new branches off the coral sea that need the CEO to inspect their quality” Jade tossed the neatly folded pressed dress shirt onto your face.

“augh, don’t piss me off this early”

“it’s already 3pm (Name)” Jade rolled his eyes before throwing another folded shirt at you.

Rolling your eyes back you opened the suitcase all the way packing the suitcase with the items he threw at you gingerly placing them next to his organized socks and three pairs of shoes he had in the red suitcase.

“Maybe once you get better I can use some of my days off to plan a getaway somewhere together” Jade sighed joining you where you laid on the suitcase by rubbing the side of your hip facing upwards.

“Im going to hold you to it Leech” You replied rolling over to face Jade at the edge of the bed.

“And it better be a fun vacation and not going to the museum of mountains and natural history downtown for 7 hours” you stretched out in your night gown.

“See, I found a new thing to occupy you while im gone” Jade responded, “you can find our first vacation destination instead of sleeping the day away again” He teased.

“Whatever, I’ll do both while your gone” you reached for your soft pink pillow above your head tossing it at him.

He caught it holding it to his face before slipping it under his arm.

"I'll just be taking this with me to ensure you actually so something"

"Jade stoppp give it back"

You lunged up to try to grab it from his arms only for him to side step you completely zipping the pillow up into the Suitcase before snatching the large enarmored luggage to himself.

"How rude, what if I was Pregnant with your child"

"I'd expect the upmost princess treatment like sleeping from you and nothing more"

Jade instead rolled the luggage to be beside another smaller night bag sitting next to the door, stepping off to the side for a moment before looming over your side of the bed.

"Who knows maybes that's why ive been so tired lately" You teased rolling to lay on your other side to face him.

"Well are you Pregnant (Name)?" Jade asked.

He was serious with his reply, now feeling the back of your neck began to heat up you only looked back at him unmoving.

"What do you think?" You bluntly replied.

"Hmm... well you have put on more weight since January" He eyed your stomach with his lone mismatched sunshine yellow iris.

"Maybe you are (Name)"

His face was now inches away from yours, his eyes peering back into your own.

"Back up Jade I was joking-"

Grabbing the last pillow propping you up your threw it at his smirking face; Stunned he quickly retaliated throwing the pillow back over ontop of you while laying down.

Jade only chuckled at the display of you trying to propped yourself back up.

"You know maybe we should get your tested (Name)" Jade joked.

"We have been busy these past few weeks, I wouldnt want to leave my beloved Girlfriend Pregnant home alone all the time" Jade peered once more over to your stomach.

You only laughed his statement off; if only he suggested this five months earlier you could have possibly found your way out of this whole dilemma...

"I mean would we really need a test? If it happens it happens Jade"

You were sincere in your thoughts; if everything in your life didnt get forced off course due to the circumstances you wouldnt have hated the idea if it being Jade's child.

He was caring towards you, had some kind of parental instincts in him when he had to discipline Floyd's single bachelor antics he'd bring over to the Penthouse, And currently was able to support a family emotionally and financially.

You couldnt place a emotion on Jade's face as he let his eyes wander your body. Heartfelt? Warm? Attentive? He was a man of mystery concerning his true feelings.

"You'd truly want to start a family with me (Name)?"

"If it were to happen yes" you responded, Eyeing your own stomach now, Your bloom must had been content with the large piece of Cake you had earlier since there wasnt as much movement as usual.

"But for now I dont think we should think hard about it- We havent even talked about if were going to stay together after this contract is over" you waved your hand dismissively.

"yeah, I guess your right" Jade grew silent, most likely thinking before he left your side of the bed making his way back to the door.

"Unless you want to just forget about the contract" You decided it was now for you to sit up at the edge of the bed to actually stop lounging around.

Swinging your legs letting the loose fitting nightgown on you got up feeling your legs guide you with weak steps towards Jade grabbing a hold of his Luggage.

"Jade?"

He was attempting to leave the room, but getting a grip on his back you held him in place gently massaging him under his suit.

"Do you not love me anymore?" You pressed your face against him.

He didn't say anything only allowing you to continue to massage him through his suit, His back visibly tense from the sudden movement of your hands pressing into him.

"We can talk when I return" Jade said before abruptly leaving with his things in his occupied hands.

You watched as he opened the frosted door walking down the hallway towards the kitchen without giving you a chance to catch up.

Huffing you followed him with short strides hoping he wasnt out the door yet.

"Jade, dont forget the lunch I packed for you in the fridge" you rushed to the fridge swinging open the door with fast steps, grabbing the pink and red containers that had his favorite mushroom casserole inside, Running to the door he had one step out already pulling his luggage away into the hallway outside.

"Hey!" You almost missed your step but you waved the container in front of him.

Only he slammed the door in yours face.

Staring back at your reflection in the metal door was all you were able to see, Jade already left.

No kiss or hug nor his lunch you packed for him to eat on the flight while he was away.

you hoped maybe he'd come back. Maybe just to unload his luggage and then he'd come inside to apologize to you with a kiss before going back downstairs.

Only it proved to be useless.

Sighing, you lowered your gaze to your bump.

Well, if Jade didnt want you then...

You couldnt finish the thought, Deciding to retreat back to the kitchen where the fridge door was still helplessly opened you let your hands cover your face.

Maybe you would go on your own venture, Besides, its clear Jade wasnt worried about you as of right bow anyway.

Might as well go see someone that did want company. Flicking your gaze to your car keys you decided what the evening would entail, Leaving the container on the counter you marched back to the bedroom to dress yourself in something that wasnt sleepwear.

-   Arriving at the hospital through trial and error you made it earlier than youd thought.

Despite the rejection from Jade at least you could confront Azul about other things that had been bothering you.

Namely the sudden flow of packages addressed to you from Azul, as flattering the gesture you wouldnt know how to explain the packages coming into work for you from the bedridden Azul. Which is what business you had to take care of today while time permitted. As you walked to Azul's room, you noticed the door was once again open; however, when you walked into the room, you couldn’t find him in his bed, by his bedside, or in the bathroom.    Huffing to yourself it seemed he was probably outside getting his physical therapy done since it was early noon currently.   Looking over at his bedside, the chair you sat in last time was gone, and the other few seats had stuff on them, forcing you to sit on his rather luxurious cot of a bed.   Hesitantly, you sat on the crisp lavender sheets, sitting as close to the side as possible. You were starting to become more winded the longer you walked due to your baby growing more and more as the several weeks passed.

Yearning to see his smiling face you paitently looked towards the door waiting for him to return.   After waiting for several minutes, it was obvious he wasnt going to be in anytime soon, you gave up scrolling on your phone since it was making you tired as you left it on the table. You guessed that you just missed him due to the long absence.   Sighing to yourself, you slumped yourself down into the fluffy comforter on the bed, looking up at the intricately painted ceiling. Making the idiotic mistake of counting the intricate tiles on the ceiling, slowly lulling yourself to sleep, your eyelids feeling heavier with each tile you counted passing out around 88 Golden leaf tiles.

...

~

You normally never dreamed. The sky was a strange lilac and blue color around you; it reminded you of a melted sunset. The cabin was in view as your opened the wooden door leaving the cabin, you realized you were on the west side of the mountain, seeing it behind you looking as majestic as it always looked overbearing the scenery like a being. You were barefooted and in a long white gown with embrodered flowers as you walked down the rocky path, feeling the twigs and pebbles beneath your naked feet.   Slowly, as you approached the north side of the mountain, however, a sense of dread started to hit you, making the tree line around you seem so wrong. You looked around, but nothing stuck out to you in the vast gradient evergreen woods. Picking up your pace, you tried to hurry up in awkward footsteps to get out of the wooded area, but the feeling kept getting stronger until you stopped to turn around once again, only to see nothing but the lonely trees behind you. You decided to run, as painful as it was, but a sound of heavy breathing was heard behind you. Eventually, you felt something with jagged, dark claws grab your dress, causing you to scream before being pulled into the woods. The claws scratched your body as they dragged you into a secluded part of the woods. You could see your flesh being gruesomely torn into by the grip, instinctively trying to protect your abdomen by swatting at the claws, only getting hurt even more from the claws. Painfully, the claws dropped you in front of a familiar tent in the middle of the woods. It was lit with candles and petals of some kind of flower leading into the tent. You looked to your left to confirm if it was true, and you saw the river and the thorn bushes next to the tent. You tried to get up, but your arms were mangled so badly that it caused you immense pain to move them. As you wailed, you saw a ginormous, tall, slender figure inside the tent that twisted and mangled onto itself as it started to churn in on itself with uncanny movements. It revealed itself from the tent as Jade, his limbs and body were twisted into some insidious dark matter, with only a few recognizable features from him, including his teal hair and his dark blue earring being the first recognizable things on him. Besides his gleaming yellow eyes, he had on his dark hiking jacket, it was just like that day.   “Jade” quickly approached you, moving unnaturally back and forth towards you, maneuvering his claws into the earth before quickly pinning you down underneath his insidious form. You wanted to scream, but nothing came out as it lifted you by your gown to face him at eye level.

  "(N̳̿͟͞a̳̿͟͞m̳̿͟͞e̳̿͟͞), t̳̿͟͞h̳̿͟͞e̳̿͟͞r̳̿͟͞e̳̿͟͞’s̳̿͟͞ s̳̿͟͞o̳̿͟͞m̳̿͟͞e̳̿͟͞t̳̿͟͞h̳̿͟͞i̳̿͟͞n̳̿͟͞g̳̿͟͞ I̳̿͟͞’d̳̿͟͞ l̳̿͟͞i̳̿͟͞k̳̿͟͞e̳̿͟͞ t̳̿͟͞o̳̿͟͞ a̳̿͟͞s̳̿͟͞k̳̿͟͞ y̳̿͟͞o̳̿͟͞u̳̿͟͞." “Jade" said, bending his crooked neck towards you.

  “D̳̿͟͞o̳̿͟͞n̳̿͟͞’t̳̿͟͞ g̳̿͟͞o̳̿͟͞ t̳̿͟͞o̳̿͟͞ S̳̿͟͞u̳̿͟͞g̳̿͟͞a̳̿͟͞r̳̿͟͞ H̳̿͟͞o̳̿͟͞r̳̿͟͞n̳̿͟͞e̳̿͟͞d̳̿͟͞ D̳̿͟͞e̳̿͟͞v̳̿͟͞i̳̿͟͞l̳̿͟͞s̳̿͟͞ C̳̿͟͞o̳̿͟͞m̳̿͟͞p̳̿͟͞a̳̿͟͞n̳̿͟͞y̳̿͟͞; I̳̿͟͞ l̳̿͟͞o̳̿͟͞v̳̿͟͞e̳̿͟͞ y̳̿͟͞o̳̿͟͞u̳̿͟͞,” it put its face towards you and revealing its fanged, sharp mouth.

  “D̳̿͟͞o̳̿͟͞n̳̿͟͞’t̳̿͟͞ y̳̿͟͞o̳̿͟͞u̳̿͟͞ l̳̿͟͞o̳̿͟͞v̳̿͟͞e̳̿͟͞ m̳̿͟͞e̳̿͟͞ (n̳̿͟͞a̳̿͟͞m̳̿͟͞e̳̿͟͞)” it said, opening its mouth and Waiting for a reply.  

You couldn’t say anything besides panicked breaths as you felt “Jades” foul breath fan your face.

  “I̳̿͟͞t̳̿͟͞’s̳̿͟͞ f̳̿͟͞i̳̿͟͞n̳̿͟͞e̳̿͟͞ (n̳̿͟͞a̳̿͟͞m̳̿͟͞e̳̿͟͞) I̳̿͟͞’l̳̿͟͞l̳̿͟͞ b̳̿͟͞e̳̿͟͞ w̳̿͟͞a̳̿͟͞i̳̿͟͞t̳̿͟͞i̳̿͟͞n̳̿͟͞g̳̿͟͞ f̳̿͟͞o̳̿͟͞r̳̿͟͞ y̳̿͟͞o̳̿͟͞u̳̿͟͞ e̳̿͟͞v̳̿͟͞e̳̿͟͞r̳̿͟͞y̳̿͟͞ d̳̿͟͞a̳̿͟͞y̳̿͟͞, n̳̿͟͞o̳̿͟͞ m̳̿͟͞a̳̿͟͞t̳̿͟͞t̳̿͟͞e̳̿͟͞r̳̿͟͞ w̳̿͟͞h̳̿͟͞e̳̿͟͞n̳̿͟͞ o̳̿͟͞r̳̿͟͞ w̳̿͟͞h̳̿͟͞e̳̿͟͞r̳̿͟͞e̳̿͟͞ I̳̿͟͞’m̳̿͟͞ g̳̿͟͞o̳̿͟͞i̳̿͟͞n̳̿͟͞g̳̿͟͞ t̳̿͟͞o̳̿͟͞ b̳̿͟͞e̳̿͟͞ w̳̿͟͞a̳̿͟͞i̳̿͟͞t̳̿͟͞i̳̿͟͞n̳̿͟͞g̳̿͟͞ f̳̿͟͞o̳̿͟͞r̳̿͟͞E̳̿͟͞v̳̿͟͞E̳̿͟͞R̳̿͟͞” it licked you with its monsterously long tongue before it unhinged it’s jaw spilling a insidious dark liquid out of it.

You finally screamed as you fell out of his grip and quickly ran towards the river. You could hear it gaining ground on you as it weirdly waltzed towards where you were running. You ran down the forest path for what felt like forever before you saw the assorted cabins sitting in front of you with the various cars in front of some of the cabins.   You ran around a few trees, racing to a cabin with an open door to your left. You hastily locked the door, hearing the heavy clink of the lock shutting the door. You could hear “Jade” violently pounding on the door behind you, feeling the tremors on your back from the door being almost broken. You ran down the hallway towards the back room of the cabin. You stopped when you saw Azul.   He sat in a chair and was humming a tune you couldn’t quite recognize. He seemed to be making something to eat, cutting vegetables in a neat stack and putting them inside a bowl. He looked blissfully unaware of the violent banging outside the front door. You tried to speak but couldn’t form any words, only being able to stare at him, sitting like a silent spectator. He looked over to his right side briefly before continuing to make whatever he was cooking. You followed his gaze to see a baby chair full of colorful bars and streamers. Seated in the center of the chair, happily bouncing around, was a tiny baby jumping around in the seat, watching TV in the corner of the room. They seemed to have been 10 months old, given how big they were. Wearing a light pink onesie, you assumed it was a girl in the onesie. Instantly, when you came into view, the baby made eye contact with you, letting out a cheerful gurgle from their seat, and immediately made the “up” motion with their hands at seeing you.   Azul finally turned immediately light up at seeing you in front of him.  “No wonder she got excited. Did you get the dessert in the car?” He asked. You still couldn’t speak, but you pointed back to the door behind you. It seemed he didn’t notice or pay attention to what you pointed to as you frantically looked around the cabin.   Suddenly, a quake shook the cabin, leaving Azul and the baby unmoving in their spots in the cabin.    “R̳̿͟͞e̳̿͟͞m̳̿͟͞e̳̿͟͞m̳̿͟͞b̳̿͟͞e̳̿͟͞r̳̿͟͞, y̳̿͟͞o̳̿͟͞u̳̿͟͞ c̳̿͟͞a̳̿͟͞n̳̿͟͞’t̳̿͟͞ l̳̿͟͞e̳̿͟͞a̳̿͟͞v̳̿͟͞e̳̿͟͞ u̳̿͟͞n̳̿͟͞t̳̿͟͞i̳̿͟͞l̳̿͟͞ y̳̿͟͞o̳̿͟͞u̳̿͟͞ k̳̿͟͞i̳̿͟͞l̳̿͟͞l̳̿͟͞ h̳̿͟͞i̳̿͟͞m̳̿͟͞.”

  “̷̱̖̫̟̺̰͢͞O̡͍̱͎̯̣͕̤̜̺̘͍͚̻̤͝ŗ̸̲͙͉͓͚ ̨̣͕͉̫̜ͅI̴̞̦̦̗̥’̜͔̘̰͇́͠l͏̘̜̭̤̱͇̜͔̘̰͇́͞͠l͏̘̜̭̤̱͇͞ ̬͟c̛̛̟̪ͅo̧͈̙̦̰̣̼̘̱̰̥͟͜m̵̧̛̯͖̺̥̘̯̙͈̫̹̜͢ͅȩ̣̰͓̻͎͡ ҉͏̫̼̜͉̭i̙͙̙̥̰̯͎̘̖̹̦̙͝͞n̴̫̘͈͈͈̳̩͢ a͏́͏͖͍̞̥̖̹̦̙͝͞n̴̫̘͈͈͈̳̩̹̖̘͢ḑ̱̥̜́ ̹̖̘ḑ̛̛̱̥̜́ͅo͈̙̦ ҉͏̫̼̜͉̭i̵̙͙̙̥̰̯͎̘͈̤̩̝̣ṱ͓̕ ̧̰̣̼̘̱̰̥͟͜m̵̧̛̯͖̺̥͕͚̝̘̞y̕҉̧͙̝̟̞͈̪̼͈͇̘͎̫͙̰̗̩s̛͇̘̯̙͈̫̹̜͢ͅȩ̣̰͓̻͎̜͔̘̰͇́͡͠l͏̘̜̭̤̱͇̝̺̠̖̭́͟͞͝f̷̩̲͈.”

  A loud thud was heard as you looked in front of you, seeing the razor blade in front of you—the same one from...   You picked it up, and suddenly, the scene before you was the cabin from all those months ago.   Azul lay in his blood and carnage in front of you as he begged you to put the razor blade down. A baby’s cry was heard from behind you, but your mutilated arms moved towards his bloodied body as you heard his cries and wails. The twisted, dark claws twisted around your wrists as you plunged the blade into his neck in one swift motion.   “It was him or me, but you picked him." Azul said in a weak voice, “Why?” He weeped to you with an indescribable sorrow in his face as life slowly left his eyes, leaving full azure orbs staring back at you.   Finally, you cried, holding him up to you and blooding your white gown as you held him close to you.   ~

...

...a jolt as you opened your eye awoke, looking around before you feeling a heavy cashmere throw over your stomach, the radio on playing soft piano music somewhere around you. Blinking the sleep from your eyes you remembered where your were again.   Azul was beside you in the bed; it seemed as if he fell asleep as well before you jolted awake, the drool in the corner of his mouth quickly wiped as he reached for his glasses in the dimmed room. His hands previously were purchased against your bump protruding from underneath the warm blanket.   "Are you okay, Angel?” Azul kissed the side of your cheek, rubbing your back soothingly. He placed a hand on your chest that traveled to your bump as he flicked his eyes to your bloom still most likely asleep.   “It was nothing- I just had a really bad dream,” sleep still evident in your tone as you felt yourself yawn loudly, letting your head lean on his shoulder.

“Oh? Care to share?” Azul began to massage around your bump.

“It was really bad,” you reiterated, “besides I wouldn’t want to worry you anyway; it was probably just my hormones,” you softly assured.   Azul thankfully didn’t press you, only focusing on your bump.

"Im so glad you came to visit me, and without Jade nonetheless" Azul pressed a kiss to the top of your forehead.

"Imagine my shock when I saw you slumped over in the corner of my bed after PT"

"Yeah sorry about that, I wasnt intending on napping in your room: I genuinely wanted to visit and see you"

Azuls lips quirked into a smile at the mention, his legs still under the metal braces as he laid next to where your's laid under the sheets.

"So, are you excited for Monday?” He asked, “I asked for permission for the day from physical therapy, and they’re allowing me to go to your appointment,”

You felt a warm sleepy smile form on your face, if only Azul knew how much those words meant to you in the moment, your memory briefly reminding you of the strange coldness you received from Jade at the mention of forgetting the Contract.

Maybe you shouldnt dwell on it; you didnt want to get depressed about how bipolar Jade was being this week.   “I’m glad to hear you're taking this seriously,” you replied, as you said that you instantly remembered why you were even here besides not wanting to be reminded of Jade.

"Um, well, I guess very seriously, I was shocked by all the things you’d gotten for our child.” You started to nervously run your fingers through your hair.   “I’m not even finished yet, Angel; I still need to find a new place for us to start our family,” Azul murmured wrapping his arm around you once again.

“I want us to start anew somewhere else, together.” He said resting his chin on top of your head.

"No more drama, we can start over whereever your heart desires, Leave this place behind us with the memories that happened here"   “What are you saying, Azul?” You owlishly blinked, finding Azul's eyes.

He conjured a soft laugh before letting his hand find the warmth of your hair stroking it in a comforting motion as he looked into your shocked hues.

“I’m saying I’m in love with you (Name); I want to make things right with you,” he said softly, running his fingers into your hair like a weaving. You regretted looking into his eyes, allowing him to see your cheeks turn dusted in rose.

"I just- couldnt bring myself to tell you during our last meeting but Ive had time to reflect on how I truly feel about both you and our child" His blue hues met your own colored irises.

You wanted to believe Azul's words ,however, the irritating voice of Jade echoed in your head from the other day causing you to instantly grimace.   “If the one I loved wasn’t important to Azul, they’d have already been charged with attempted 1st degree murder by now.”

You broke his eye contact looking away towards the wall behind you both.   “Is that why you lied to everyone about what happened?” you lowly asked.

Azul's eyes widen from surprise a sudden chuckle bubbled from him before he rubbed the apple of your cheek.

“What do you mean sweetheart?” He asked,   “In the mountains, you remembered us being together, but you purposely omitted that I convinced you to let me take you there,” you bluntly questioned. “you dont really have Amnesia do you?” Your tears once again threatened to fall as you confessed to him.

"You know what I did to you those six months ago"

Azul didn't say anything, only focusing on you watching you intently with a soft grin on his face.   “You hate me dont you?” you tearfully said, trying to keep your tears at ease to get your point across to Azul.

“It’s just like what Jade said: I shouldn’t trust you because you might get rid of me once I have my child and send me to prison forever.” You burst into a wail as your felt the wet tears dripping from your face wiping your eyes. Pulling back from Azul, you tried to get out of Azul's hold, but he wouldn’t let you go, leaving you stuck in his grasp a tearful mess wiping your eyes with your palms.   "So Jade apparently knows me so well he can read my mind, huh?” Azul sneered, “What other lies has he been feeding you while you’ve been away from me?” Azul watched you as you sobbed into your hand.   “I just want to know if your genuine Azul,” you exhaled.

"Because I dont want to fall in love with someone that just is going to dispose of me like Jade did to me this weekend" you hiccuped.

“Ive been through so much I dont want to be tricked by you again to trust you like when we were in the Cabin again"

You turned away from him in the bed sitting up, displacing the soft throw as you tried to get up from the cot, only to feel his arm grab your upper arm tightly.   "I dont know what to say to make you believe (Name) but it seems Jade has poisoned your mind as he is good at" He sighed.

"As I said, I actually love you enough to confess whats on my mind unlike Jade-" Azul raised his voice towards you; you backed away in his hold as he held a dark expression on his face.

A lurch was felt before your bloom jumped inside at the loud surrounding around them, most likely as scared as you were of Azul.

You patted your abdomen to calm them down as they kicked to change their position inside of your walls.   "Well, if it’s true, then show me proof you love me,” you begged, wrapping your arms around your abdomen to protect your baby from Azul.

“Or I’m leaving this hospital and town, and I’ll never see you again; I’ll take our precious bloom away from you, and you’ll never hear from both of us again,” you yelled at him, trying to thrash out of his hold around you.   For a moment he stared you down with fury and anger in his eyes before he relented taking a deep breath in to calm himself. He sighed before he spoke.

"I dont want you to leave (Name)"

“I love you but if I must tell your what is truly going on in the background,” he began to catch your attention as you glared at him with pure hatred.   “Jade killed Brett so he could place blame on him for my attack and your… incident ontop of the mountain,” Azul said quietly, “He wanted to drag your name in all the papers as this poor victim of the Sugar Horned Devils CEO that was raped and used as a company spy by him, frame you as a revenge killer for Brett, and then bail you out for his murder.” Azul continued.   “That bag over there,” he pointed at the white shopping bag you brought in the last visit in the corner of his room, “has your fingerprints on it; he wanted me to call the police and tell them you murdered Brett and he attacked me,” Azul began to soothe your back.   “but out of the love for the both of you I’m not going along with it, which is why Jade is threatening to keep you from me if I don’t comply before April"

You stared blankly at Azul unable to process what he said. Jade had truly lied to you, this whole time he pretended to be helplessly in love with you treating you like a princess in the highrise knowing full well he was going to ruin your life in another month.

It was no wonder why he wasnt here.   You couldnt hold it in anymore- letting all of your tears out on the warm gray sweatshirt Azul had on as you leaned into his chest. Azul only comforted your collapsed form resting on him as you let your tears finally flow from your face. You knew Brett’s murder was suspicious; you thought it had been Azul because of their relationship, but it was Jade, who you shared months of your time with together; you had even had sex with him, giving Jade your heart.

You were truly beginning to consider Jade's choice to be a couple together. But to you it meant nothing anymore, the future youd daydream about when Jade would make you lunch, or when youd both be curled up on the sofa spending time after work together.

It made you sick-   “I’m sorry you had to find out like this, but I couldn’t keep lying to you anymore, Angel,” he said, kissing your forehead. 

"I just want you to be Happy (name) not wallowing in the misery that has been brought to you" Azul spoke up.

you cried for a while that afternoon.   Eventually after all your sorrows were done you both laid together side by side as you tried to calm down from everything you had just discovered. Focusing on the radio softly playing Azul's favorite music as he told you about the various things that had went on during his stay in the hospital kept your mind busy.

Azul and you both decided to get something to eat, Having dinner together while you both kept each other company.   You couldnt help yourself by occasionally glancing back at him; It was such a different lense you saw Azul through now.

Someone that Azul actually wanted around...

It was about nine pm when you realized how late it was. You honestly didn’t even want to go back to Jade’s place; you knew Jade wouldn’t be back for a long time, but it disgusts you to have to come back to his penthouse.

Fixing your hair in the mirror in the bathroom you decided to gather your courage, Azul was changing into his own clothes to sleep in taking extra care in changing his pants on the side of the bed.

"Azul"

“is it alright if I stay with you?” You called weakly over your shoulder, “I just don’t want to go home tonight"

He was silent before you heard him reply.   “You needn’t ask; I welcome it since it does get rather lonesome not seeing anyone until Friday,” he sighed. “And besides, this gives us the chance to talk about our future together; I’d like for both of us to be on the same page,” Azul's reflection in the mirror behind yours, you felt a smile of relief wash over your cheeks.

Maybe it was true.. Retreating from the mirror you beelined to the cot lying in the disturbed spot from where you first fell asleep on; watching as Azul finished dressing himself before joining where you laid.

Grabbing his hand lifting it and lacing his hand together, you intertwined your fingers into his, examining how well yours and his hands molded together.   As if…

They were meant to be.

-

[pink-link-lemonade]

Second Life AU

“You’re… alive?”

[Still debating on the AU name, but this seems fitting for now]

I needed to make another AU so badly AUGH,,,

[aquz]

babysitter . . . # four

☆ ortho has a temporarily new babysitter and idia has to walk him there every morning before school. idia isn't a fan of clichés but... who knew the babysitter was so cute?

☆ gender neutral reader, reader is kind of a shut-in yet is good with kids, strangers to crushes with idia shroud featuring ortho! magicless au!

gently, idia closed the door to the small room at the very end of the upstairs hallway. ortho stood in front of him, a deadpan look displayed on his face. "okay, the security system is up-to-date. remember what i said: keep the door locked, absolutely do not answer it, don't touch anything on my computer that isn't a children's game because you might end up scarring yourself, and i'll be home as soon as possible."

idia laid down some common ground rules, for ortho was to be left home alone for a few hours. unfortunately, ortho had to be left home alone thanks to the school exam that both idia and (name) had to take. idia remembered the conversation from last night and how nervous he felt when he realized ortho would be home alone for a while.

(name) [6:40 pm]

god damn it (ﾒ` ﾛ ´) okay so erm. i have to show up to school IN PERSON tomorrow. . .

idia [6:40 pm]

LMAO HOW DOES IT FEEL

wait

what about ortho

(name) [6:42 pm]

augh you're right ... maybe he can stay home alone for a bit? i've been staying home alone quite often since i was young and i think i've turned out fine ^_^

idia [6:44 pm]

BUT we live in a big house and we are a well known family... what if someone tries to break in??

(name) [6:45 pm]

im sure nobody wants to do that, and if they do, think of the fancy shmancy security set up you have!!! police will be there like... in a second

idia [6:50 pm]

im going to assume ortho told you about that because i have no recollection of telling you about the security set up myself. i think i should be more worried about you breaking in rather than anyone else (⊙_⊙)

there was no time to be worried, though; idia had a solid 5 minutes before he absolutely HAD to leave. ortho smiled, "it's okay, idia! i'll be extra careful! i won't go outside, i won't eat your candy and i'll even clean my room!" idia patted the younger boy's head. "good, i've really got to go now... don't forget to call me if you need anything. if you can't reach the phone on the counter, you can use my tablet to contact (name)."

ortho nodded and waved a goodbye to his brother, who finally made his way downstairs and out the door with a grimace on his face. it's too early to have a stomachache; stress from ortho and the exam clashing together as if they were fighting for dominance in his stomach, which made him feel worse. he could probably throw up right about now.

idia arrived just in time for the bell to ring and signal the start of classes. idia looked around the room at all the other students, sitting or hanging around their seats while they waited for the instructor. idia's eyes glanced towards his own seat - unofficially but he had been sitting there for so long that it was automatically his - to find someone already sitting there. idia's face lit up with recognition as he began to make his way up the raised seats to the very top; in the corner was idia's occupied seat. "hey... um, i sit here." idia chortled at his own joke.

idia's poor attempt at "do-i-know-you" humor startled the babysitter. (name) looked up with wide eyes, before sighing out in relief. "is it really? sorry about that; your seat was the only open one that's not surrounded by people i don't know..." idia shrugged at their statement. "it's okay, i get that. i sit all the way up here, in the corner, because i'm away from most people."

they nodded in response as they watched idia sit down in the empty seat beside them. as soon as he touched the chair, the teacher walked into the room. "class, sit down and listen up; today is the day of the last practice exam. i will divide you all into groups and send you where you belong."

the class erupted into whispers, hoping to he grouped with their friends. as the teacher began listing off names and groups, idia tuned out. it was quite loud for him and being in public during such a nerve-wracking day really set him off.

"...., .....,. To start group b, shroud and (last name). ....., .....," idia was not able to catch his last name; luckily the cutie in his seat did. whipping their head over to the anxious man, they smiled brightly. "hey, did you get that? we are in the same group! they quietly exclaimed to idia, who was just snapped out of his own head.

"....yay..." he quietly hummed, looking down at his hands, which fiddled with his hoodie. (name) deadpanned, "oh? are you not excited about that? huh, and i thought we had something special..." they dramatically sighed which made idia shake his head. "nonono - you just... we can even do anything together because we are taking practice exams. it's almost like it'll make no difference if you're there or not..." he replied.

before the babysitter could response, someone sitting in the row in front of the two whipped around, pressing a firm finger to her lips as she shushed both the teenagers behind her. she shook her head before turning back around. (name) and idia looked at each other immediately after she turned back around and started to giggle quietly among themselves.

the bell rung, signaling the end of the torturous practice exam. idia sighed and let the disgustingly stressful feelings out of his lungs. standing up quickly, he began packing up. he looked to where (name) were assigned to sit, two rows ahead of him, and watched as they did the same. he was about to meet them at their desk to walk home together . . . until they began to leave and the crowd of students followed behind them. thay put a physical barrier between idia and (name)... there was no way he could catch up now.

idia waited until the horde of students all left to turn in his exam and to leave the room. he walked down the hallway, a sudden sadness in his step. 'you didn't wait for me' he sulked in his head, gripping harder onto his backpack strap. as he pushed through the school doors to reach the outside, he felt a looming presence behind him; one that was not sadness.

he slowly looked behind himself and there they were - holding two energy drinks. "idia~ sorry for not waiting. the students are as strong as elephants, i couldn't stop walking or else i would've gotten pushed and trampled... i bought you a little something!" (name) held their hand out, passing an energy drink to idia.

"o-oh. no, it's fine. totally cool. i also really need to make it home, ortho is still there alone..." idia sighed and began the slowest brisk pace. to be fair, he would probably keel over the second he reached an increased heart rate, so at least he was looking out for himself. (name) nodded. "yeah, that's smart..."

idia looked down as he walked, the other teenager just a few steps behind him. "s-so, how was the exam?" idia muttered out, pulling his phone out and checking for any calls or messages. "painfully long, i wanted to ask you something but i forgot... if only i sat next to you ... could've passed you a note."

"ah, yeah... as soon as i get home and see ortho, i can get on (game)... you can join me if you want..." idia suggested, finally looking up from his phone to see (name), who had now began walking beside him. "oh yeah? that'd be cool!"

small talk filled the silence between the two as they walked home in the warm afternoon. as soon as idia got home, of course after dropping (name) off at their house, he dropped everything. rushing around to find ortho was probably the fastest idia has ever moved in his life, and he found ortho napping on the couch as some cartoon played on the tv.

idia sighed with relief and pulled out his phone once more. before he could log onto (game), he had to listen to his favorite artist's new single. his headphones were in his backpack, which he didn't remember putting in there instead of around his neck, but that was a trivial detail. idia went back to where he threw his bag and opened it up ... to find an extra energy drink.

'to idia,

you can have this drink too. i don't drink this kind... oh also, wanna hang out tomorrow? i'm free and you should be as well... it's okay if you can't, but i'd love too. lmk your response, ids ! ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ'

the sticky note read, making idia cock an eyebrow. hangout tomorrow... sounds fun... WAIT? never once has idia shroud THOUGHT THAT A HANG OUT SOUNDED FUN. were these even his own thoughts!?

idia short circuited for a bit before smiling and grabbing his headphones, setting the drink with the note on a nearby table. he pulled out his phone, plugging in his headphones while he had it, and typed a response back to the note's author.

idia [2:55 pm]

'sticky note on a drink? how cliché lol... but sure. let's hang out tomorrow.'

authors note? god damn this took so much longer than it should've... that's okay though!! it's done now!! (watch me disappear for another month) school has taken a lot of my energy and time and effort but we UP now!!! i'm excited to wrap this story up ... (5 chapters left. Aughhhh.) because i wanna write a new one about the 1920's (VERY INTO THAT DECADE AS RECENTLY.)

i hope my tired ramblings of the majority of this chapter made sense and were interesting enough to not make you wanna watch paint dry!! time for aquz to sleep ~ bye bye and thanks for reading!

[heavenlyantennas]

i still gotta render the thing im making rn so no actual art till thursday at the latest (schools n clubs sorry chatters) have this dumb shit till i return

i still need a name for this stupid fuck au augh

[intertexts]

OK HI. HELLO ROS <3 standing in ur doorway like this 🧍 listen i will read worm eventually i just have so much HAPPENING. ALL THE TIME RIGHT NOW. AND DONT HAVE THE TIME. and also jrwi has me in a chokehold u know how it b. ANYWAY. i need u 2 tell me as much about new haven wards as u can without like major insane spoilers for worm. little spoilers r ok. i watch/read everything with a few lil spoilers 2 look forward to anyway <3 i know nothing abt the universe of worm (<<has barely made a sizeable dent in it but god i will i prommy) but i wanna know what exactly nhw is about. how does the universe work. how do the powers work. what is the situation with the nhw how and why are they working together where did they all come from!! gimme the nhw lore!!! as much as u can!!!!! looking at u with the biggest saddest wettest eyes rn pls pls pls infodump abt nhw 2 me!!!!!!!! ros pls 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

HIII HI HI WHISKEY <333 UR INSANE FOR ASKING THIS. BTW. literally insane. grabbing u so hard by the shoulders there is a crazed look in my eye. anyway. FIRST i am tagging @stuck-in-the-ghost-zone here also!!!!!! bc it is his au as much as mine & i am NOT qualified 2 talk abt nhw mark n such. augh.

ok. ok. ok. new haven wards. putting the cut here.

so the basic movement of worm is that powers are from trauma. ridiculously simplified, but that's the base of it-- if you have superpowers, you have them because you went through traumatic events so severe to you specifically that it broke ur brain a little bit. the powers manifest in some way as a reaction to the traumatic scenario. (it is also more complicated than this. playing the spoiler card.) OR secret second option u put urself into indefinite debt to an extremely shadowy and ominous.... organization? person? shadow government branch? conspiracy? and get superpowers in a can, with like, a 10% chance they'll backfire and mutate u into some fucking terrible inhuman shit and then they'll completely memory wipe you and brand you and dump you off somewhere. not really relevant here. because the main way of getting superpowers is to be violently traumatized, cape society in worm tends to be grittier, more violent. there's more villains, the heroes are less shiny marvel or dc and more making whatever moral compromises they need to get the best outcome possible. at one point one of the main heroes in the city worm takes place in tells the sixteen-year-old protagonist "i don't care, there's a kill order out on them, just put a bullet in her brain if you see her, it's fine" and then a while later goes "yeah i'd vote for a kill order out on you guys too," directly to her face. worm is always going "hey, wouldn't it fucking suck if superheroes were real?". there are many horrifying and inhuman and violent threats. sexual and racial and physical violence aren't swept under the rug. these seventeen year olds are sent to crime scenes where flayed and gutted corpses are suspended from the ceilings because they're heroes! ^_^ but this aint about worm this is about the new haven wards!!!!! [wards are the child soldiers junior hero branch of the main syndicated/unionized hero organization, w/ placement in every major city alongside regional protectorate headquarters]

>key things for this au:

--william wisp changed his last name to bell when he moved to new haven (where his brother david lives :) and joined the wards, for another layer of anonymity ^_^ (he is. severely paranoid about his identity & privacy. <- also a Big and Heavy thing in worm/parahumans world. it's a Big Fucking Deal to unmask a cape regardless of their alignment)

-dakota never got the mechanical heart & biomedical augumentation so didn't meet mato cole at that time! he's still dakota damascus :]

-virion... idk why he's still virion & not vyncent actually. probably just because that was the name his parents gave him? we can't change it now though nhw virion & canon vyncent r two different guys to me...

-ashe is the unluckiest fucking guy in the world!!!

their powers are a little different from canon both bc of the ways powers work just being different frm how they do in pd & also because of the "they're always a reflection of the worst moment of ur life that you're just dragging around with you reminding you of it" thing. <333

wibby / whisperer is a breaker/shaker (<- power classifications meaning he has another form he shifts into, and also an area of effect] in his breaker form (crackling white-blue energy) he 1) can control how corporeal he is, or *how* corporeal he is, from "walks into the brick wall" to "doesnt notice there's a brick wall and goes straight through it", to "goes incorporeal to stick his hand in a guy's chest then resolidifies to instakill him" w/ some tradeoffs. & 2) shape/control energy manifestations in a fairly wide radius around him, where the power of the shaped energy is in proportion to the amount of recent death in the area-- if there's a ton of casualties in the area, he can do a lot more than he could in a peaceful small town in the middle of nowhere. the situation with his trigger event was him. growing up socially isolated and half convinced he was going crazy and everyone else Also thought he was fucking insane (deadwood is still haunted!! more haunted :]) for years & years + the loneliness + frustration + unsureness if he's actually the one just. losing it or if it's all really real + the constant feeling of being in danger, that the town is bad and malicious and out to Get you. anyway. he fell, take that as ambiguously as u do for that in canon, didn't die, but was severely injured & couldn't move. just laid there for maybe a day or so in the woods that wanted to kill him. anyway he triggered when he was found! the catalyst was not "the place that's been out to get me my entire life finally succeeded" but the helpless incandescent frustration of "actually nothing i ever do is going to make you understand. i've been trying for so fucking long to make you See It but you won't!!! you never will and you just think i'm crazy or stupid or making it up for attention even though it has such obvious fucking consequences and is manifestly Real!!" he was recruited to the wards by miss g herself, who was like hahahhahaa this kid could be a Really Fucking Big Problem if he doesn't have an eye on him!! ^_^ he never wanted to be a hero, and still doesn't, really, but he's terrified of accidentally hurting people & deadwood is like a weight around his neck and maybe things will be better if he just gets out of here. for a while they're not, of course. he just feels like. y'know. he's another sick thing that crawled out of deadwood, and his powers make that obvious. the way they interact with recently dead shit makes him sick!! living with david is awful-- a big, lovely, lonely high rise apartment, an older brother who barely bothers to speak to him, calls to their mom through the walls going "why is he here? why would you send him here? can he like, go anywhere else?"

virion sol / imprint is a trump (meaning his powers interact With other capes powers.) he can copy powers by touching other parahumans-- the copied power is just as strong as the original, whatever the original is, but he doesn't have an innate sense of how to use it; he can easily be overwhelmed or overstimulated by powers that involve a ton of sensory input, or accidentally loose cannon something he wasn't expecting and can't easily control. regardless, this is a fucking insane power to have. it's so cracked. like within the parahumans-- world, this is something so rare, especially being able to copy the full strength of the power. the very few examples in canon of something similar, the copied power is always inferior. his situation was similar to canon-- the greats were a team of independent heroes, & were like, extended family to virion. he grew up unpowered, but in the cape world-- so many aunts and uncles teaching him security, standard protocols, how to fight capes, how to run cape business and independent team business, how to handle guns and tasers and safely run background checks. y'know. a family's worth of professional knowledge. he never really wanted to be a cape, anyway, he was more than happy to do all the unpowered stuff at home that needed to be done. occasionally he came with them on patrol n stuff or snuck out to watch them. the greats' long term goal was prying out the lich, an extremely heavyweight warlord who had control over most of the city. virion's father struck a deal with the lich-- virion knows as little what the deal was For as he does in canon, but he double crossed the entire team. virion snuck along to the confrontation with the lich (setup) & watched his father turn & murder all of them. still not sure if he did it all himself or just watched as the lich's minions did it, but the way they knew all their weaknesses, how efficient and brutal and unexpected it was-- it was his dad feeding the information. virion stays frozen in shock and horror & hidden during all of this. can't do anything to help. is fucking useless, despite all he knows and has done. for the first time in his life, he wished he had powers, that ram and min and everyone could have taught him how to have and use their powers like they taught him everything else. he triggered watching it all happen. after this, he went on the run, terrified that someone would Know that he saw, that they'd be coming for the loose ends, that his dad would come back for him. all he has of his family is a couple piecemeal things he could grab before he ran-- ram's favorite revolvers, a holy medal of alphonz's, some of his mom's sturdy jewelry. anyway, he ran, moved to a different city, new haven. started figuring out his powers, started targeting specifically other capes who were up to bad shit-- minor to mid league villains, the occasional local hero who would Look squeaky clean, but after their sudden death dirty secrets would come out, etc. all very low-key, very subtle. none of the disappearances or deaths looked related. during this period he is SO fucked up. he is so fucked in the head. he's incredibly hypervigilant and paranoid and jumpy (good at looking unbothered and still clocking every single sound and movement and always facing doors and windows), mired in the grief and guilt and horror at. watching his entire family slaughtered and life shattered in a night. sleeps for no more than two hours or so at a time. even on top of the lich and his dad... what he's been doing puts an even bigger target on his back. doesn't have time or heart for anything but the dirty work. is dissociating through the periods of time where he's not actively hunting someone down or on the job. silhouette is the one who puts the pieces together-- of course he's on the protectorate (hero organization) radar. sure he's only been targeting bad guys, but how clean each one was? how well covered they all are? how whoever this is has allegedly killed at least almost two hands' worth of capes in cold blood by now? sets off alarms, if you're looking!!

anyway, silhouette tracks him down, says hey, i know who you are, i know what happened. you're just a kid. you join us, and you'll gain the resources and skill to be able to get revenge. aren't you tired of running? now... virion took to this fast and well when he did, but. before it all, he was just a teenager. despite the family business, he was just some guy! he helped his mom cook and got help with schoolwork at the kitchen table and his cool aunts took him out for lunch. he never wanted this or expected it. and of course he doesn't trust the heroes farther than he can spit, but... it's something. it's better than this. anything has to be better than the way he's driving himself into the ground. & also, of course. if silhouette can find him. anyone else who's looking for him can too. (i don't think he's even registered on the radar of anyone. his dad didn't actually survive the lich, obviously, & he was the only other one who really knew abt virion + nobody knew he triggered. he's just. so fucking paranoid.)

dakota damascus / failsafe is a thinker/mover. he 1) has a precognitive sense of any pain that anyone in a radius around him will feel in the next short amount of time. this is-- varyingly difficult to block. he can't just Choose not to feel it, although the intensity of the feeling, again, varies. mostly proportionally to how severe the pain actually is, or how many people are hurt, but, with time, he can dull or sharpen it + follow the threads of it to discern Who exactly is in pain, rather than just an ambient sensation. 2) is VERY fast & has matching enhanced cognitive speed. these two abilities work SO good together, both in combat situations & also just day to day patrolling. man. i love dakota. anyway, he triggered young-- he was out with his parents (maybe 7/8) and they got caught in an attack by siberian-- a genuinely indestructible, incredibly powerful villain who can just,,, run her hand through a concrete foundation like it's butter & collapse buildings, or scoop out peoples insides in a heartbeat. and also likes to eat people, like, raw and bloody after dismembering them. whatever level of ultraviolent shocking horror u are imagining. double it. anyway. they got caught in the scene of this attack, dakota got separated from his parents in the panic and stampede and rush to get out-- he's seven! it's terrifying levels of panic and claustrophobia and people shoving and trampling and he's not gonna leave without his parents!! of course not!! he triggers from the fear and the disorientation and the panic & he can't find them & he's trying to fight the crowd but he barely comes up past their knees & there's awful sounds of fighting & he's close enough to see her... things are doubly disorienting with the echo of the agony from everyone who gets Fucking Siberianed. he sees most of the fight. um. a while after she's driven away and it's finally finished he finds what's left of his parents. there's a beat in worm, during an encounter with siberian and the Big Heroes, the prime force equivalent, where they just.. give her a victim to chew on because it makes her happier and less of a nightmare to fight. which is something i think about frequently. anyway, after this things are kind of loose, similar to canon. he does the same shit. it's also quieter and you can feel less people hurting the higher up u are. yk? OH GOD. YEAH. at some point after this we still have not hammered it out. he confronts the slaughterhouse 9 (the supervillain group that attacked/siberian is part of) about it & gets his face slit open (half chelsea smile style) & makes a deal to either kill a guy in [n years] or that guy will kill him & several hundred other people!!!!!!!!!!!! dakota damascus killing a man baked into the bones of nhw!!!

anyway he & cat still fell. he underwent a second trigger event when this happened, actually-- the panic and desperation of that situation + the way it echoed his first trigger, etc. this is also super fucking rare, btw. there are very few second triggers & it is almost Never good. (u cannot trigger more than twice + a second trigger is always a refining or an improving of the intent of the original trigger) so that's where the speed etc. came from. tide found him, gave him. a better support system (low bar!!) + a real purpose in joining the wards. i have a lot of feelings abt this.

ashe / auxiliary / muse is also a shaker/breaker!!!!! his backstory i cannot talk too much about because it is Big Spoilers. but he is a fucking powerful telekinetic (around when he joins the wards, having not really used his power in years, he has an upper weight limit of a couple times his body weight & a fairly large radius of effect). he also has a breaker form that only triggers in certain situations & if he really really pushes himself to breaking w/ his powers-- when he enters it, he loses lucidity, for the most part, & starts warping and stretching and breaking space-time in strange, dreamlike ways-- the pavement melts, or everything gets bouncy, or cars and concrete chunks and things with no business moving float slowly around like balloons, or he pulls and crumples reality to move without really moving.... it gets Real fucking bad, real fast. ANYWAY. he eventually sneaks out one night, walks to a gas station to get. snacks. it-- okay, i'm fucking linking mac's post, i CANNOT summarize all of this concisely. go read that. so. that's ashe's deal!!!!!!!!!

THERE'S ALSO. MARK. ASK MAC ABOUT MARK i have typed this entire thing out on myfucking phone keyboard i literally Cannot keep going. help. and also their mark stuff is so fucking good its so. auuuhhgh. AND ALSO DAVID BELL. WHO WORKS FOR THE ORGANIZATION THAT SELLS U SUPERPOWERS IN A CAN W A CHANCE OF GETTING TURNED INTO AN UNRECOGNIZABLE MONSTER AND DOES HUMAN ABDUCTION AND EXPERIMENTATION. AND JADE AND X AND ALLEN ARE THE FREEDOM CITY WARDS AND GRAYSCALE SHAKES OUT EVEN FUCKING WORSE THAN IT DID IN CANON. YEAH.

SO. YEAHG. THATS. THATS THE MOST OF IT. um. yeah. theyre a dreadful little polycule they are. So fucking clingy they r traumabonded. like little trembling chihuahua puppies. separation anxiety and all. virion and dakota share a comfy old victorian house in a suburban neighborhood maybe a fifteen minute walk from the protectorate hq. wibby starts out living w/ david and eventually just... all his stuff moves over to their place. their clothes r all mixed up they know each others blood types they're all sleeping together on the couch. eventually their house gets blown up. they all get various flavors of nightmare & are 1 million shades of debilitatingly mentally ill but like-- it works. they r good for each other. theyre good together. do not separate them. etc. i'm not even gonna fucking START talking abt their dynamics other than that but like. i mean. if you want a repeat of THIS u can always ask!!!!!!!

[agentwilburcross]

PEIP is right. And I agree with them.

Well, well, well. I'd say you're a sight for sore eyes, but I'd be lying. How you doin' there, Wilbur?

@discipleofywrath

I- hello? I'm fine, never been better. And you, Mr. Me?